Hi, I am pretty much clueless about cars and am trying to figure out what happened to my 240DL today. I'd been driving in the city (up and down hills, lots of stop signs, etc.) for about 45 minutes straight after driving it shorter distances for most of the day. It was pretty hot today, around 90F. I parked for maybe fifteen minutes, started it up, made it half a block, and the engine died. It started back up right away, but I only got another fifty feet and it died again. After that, it would start, but die before I could give it gas or shift. I let it sit for an hour and it was still dying as soon as I started it. Could this be vapor lock? Fuel pump problem? Everything has been running normally although I did notice a bit of a gas smell in the car after I filled it up yesterday, which has never happened before. Any ideas? It's the weekend so I don't know how much luck I'm going to get finding a mechanic before Monday, and I'd like to get back to my house 80 miles away before then if this is easy to fix.

 

This could indeed be a vapor lock. My old 244DL used to do that at times on hot days, (I live in Western Australia, which can get pretty hot). Sometimes had to leave it for a few hours - after that she'd start up fine again. The gas smell can be caused by lose fuel lines and/or connections, or like you said a dodgy fuel pump. The 240 series weren’t really designed well for hot climates, imo.

 

I've left it overnight at a friend's house, so hopefully it'll turn out to be vapor lock and start up when I go over there. The gas smell was only for about a mile immediately after filling the tank all the way past the line on the fuel gauge-- could that have anything to do with it? Also, I filled it on Thursday, and it was cooler and damper than it had been in a few days. A friend suggested that maybe I wound up with moisture in my fuel lines when it got hot again. Possible?

 

I am having the same problem. I smell gas in the car, and the new OE Bosch fuel pump is whining a bit. This happens only on hot days so far (90F plus). Can I expect a difficult time as I live in Las Vegas? Is there a fix?

 

fuel injection systems shouldn't vapor lock, but if your in-tank pump is failing, your main pump will struggle to deliver sufficient fuel, and yes, in hot weather, with a low gas tank, you can get vapor-lock like symptoms.

 

Thanks for your reply Pierce,

I have read that, but I have just installed a new in-tank pump. I know it works as I hear it running with the gas cap off, and I even (carefully) removed the fuel line to the main pump to see if fuel was pumping...it was. Could this be a fuel pump relay issue or maybe a bad fuel pressure regulator? Any advise is much appreciated. Oh, and the gas smell seems to only occur when the car is running.

 

be good to narrow down where that gas smell is coming from before you car catches on fire and burns to the ground. I missed seeing that last night

 

Indeed! Yesterday I had quite a bit of around town driving, and the weather was cooler. I did not really smell gas, but the main pump is making a lot of noise. I think after 3 fuel pumps (in tank and main 2x) and new fuel lines it is time to take it to a shop. I really wanted to figure this out on my own... oh well, thanks for your input.

 

I've read that a bunch of replacement in-tank pumps are wired backwards. this messes things up good.

 

Majority ebay pumps are wired backwards. Airtex and Bosch are wired correctly and run just fine.

 

I got my in-tank pump from IPD, and I don't remember the brand. It was not Bosch.

 

hmmm. well, if you can do the following test, it would eliminate what I'm suspecting...

disconnect the power to the tank pump. disconnect the fuel line from the tank pump to the main pump, and connect a hose into a gasoline safe container. hotwire the tank pump with 12V (I'd use a small 12V battery as I have several of these)... do you get a nice steady stream of fuel out of the tank? if so, then its good, put everything back, its something entirely different.

(p.s. be careful to keep the fuel far away from the jumper wires you use to hot wire it so you don't ignite fuel vapors with sparks).

 

Hey Pierce,
I tested the in-tank pump, and I have steady flow. Today was in the 70s, and my main pump did not make a sound. I did not smell fuel. It seems to only happen on hot days (approx. 90s) and then the main pump gets noisy and some days I smell fuel. So, intermittent but correlated with hot days and extended driving times (especially on the highway).

 

hmmm.

this car is LH-II, right? (I think 83 was the first year for LH as opposed to K-Jetronics)

next time its misbehaving, remove the vacuum line from the back of the fuel pressure regulator and have someone turn the key on, see if any gas spurts out of it.

 

I'll try this. I don't know if it's LH 2, but Wiki says that system was used from 1982 forward, so probably.

 

Hello All,
I have posted here before about my 83 volvo and its fuel pump issues. Things were resolved with a new in-tank pump and new bosch main pump. I also replace the fuel filter and have diagnosed that the fuel pressure regulator is good. So here's the problem… the main fuel pump makes copious noise in hot weather only (85 plus degrees). Can you think of a reason that it would act up only in hot weather? I thought it might be a relay drawing too much current, but it works fine in cooler temps. Gas level does not seem to make a difference either…just outside temperature.

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!